


hanging by a thread

by stormss



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24045124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormss/pseuds/stormss
Summary: It was supposed to be a night where they'd get to unwind, the last thing any of them expected was to be jumping into action when they witness a hit-and-run car accident.*Lone Star Week, Day 4:Action & Adventure.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 12
Kudos: 165
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star Week, 9-1-1 Lone Star ▶ Carlos Reyes / Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand





	hanging by a thread

**Author's Note:**

> hello! so i'm not much of an action/adventure writer and i'm not so sure how i feel about this, but i wanted to post something either way. and so here we are. i am also in no way an expert on medical things so this is probably inaccurate but lets ignore that asdjfknskfja. 
> 
> anyway — let me know what you think! as always, come say hi on [tumblr!](https://reyesstrand.tumblr.com/)
> 
> **((TW: brief mentions of blood/injury))**

It’s an immense relief, when he hears Grace’s voice on the other end of the call. 

_“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”_

Her voice is something to anchor himself to. The adrenaline is starting to wear off, now, and he’s pretty sure that other spectators have already called for help, but he couldn’t help himself as he tries to catch his breath and calls the number he knows all too well. 

“Grace, hey, it’s TK Strand with the 126 — we need help, as fast as possible.” 

She immediately launches into her training, asking if everyone is alright and—and they are, as far as TK can tell. None of them had any gear and they’re mostly free of any wounds, but the woman they pulled from the scene has just gone into shock. As Grace asks for an address and tells him to stay on the line with her, he jumps back in surprise when the car that was hit and pushed into the telephone pole erupts into flames. He makes a noise, he thinks, because there’s gas leaking and there’s too many people hanging around and they can’t do anything. They’re _stuck,_ watching this happen, not as first responders but as _civilians,_ and TK watches as Marjan tries to run forward only for Carlos and Paul to jump in and hold her back. 

“Holy shit,” he whispers, almost forgetting he’s on the line. 

“Stay with me, TK, help’s on the way,” Grace says, her voice steady and comforting, tethering him to reality by a thread.

* * *

Two hours earlier, and none of this ever seems like it could be a possibility. 

Because it’s been a _long_ week. Every department’s been slammed because early summer seems to bring out the weird in people even more than usual, and they’ve been on non-stop calls whenever they’re on-shift. When they’re off-shift, they’re sleeping. It’s like one endless cycle, and when Carlos texts him and brings to his attention the fact that they haven’t _actually_ seen each other in seven days, TK’s suddenly glad that he’s looking down the barrel of forty-eight hours off. 

And even though Judd’s got some card-game with some guys from the 157 tonight since Grace is working, and his dad’s got a meeting with the fire chief, it’s barely five in the evening when they’re done for the day, and TK all but forces his friends to come with him and Carlos to the bar, and then maybe to a club to go dancing or to one of their houses to chill. It’s tradition for them all to relax together — and after the week they’ve had, he knows they need it as much as he does. Thankfully they agreed, and they’ve been sharing stories and laughing too loud in the corner of the honky-tonk they frequent for the last little while. 

“I say we move this party elsewhere,” Paul says, and Marjan agrees. 

“I _need_ some food before we do anything, Strickland,” Marjan puts her hands over her stomach as if making a point. 

Carlos, who’s been plastered to TK’s side for most of the evening, neither of them willing to be out of reach from one another, shrugs. “There’s some food trucks within walking distance. We can go there and then head to the club when they open.” 

“See, this is why you’re my favourite, Carlos,” Marjan says through a grin, while TK, Mateo and Paul all dramatically gasp as if on cue. 

They slowly make it out of the bar as the sun begins its slow descent beyond the horizon. There are more people crowding the streets, but TK quickly remembers it’s Friday night, and everyone is seeking out some sort of way to de-stress after the work week. Carlos and TK pull back a little from the group, walking just a few steps behind them while their friends seamlessly manage to maneuver the conversation back to their debate on remakes of movies. A debate that has been going on for almost a month. 

“You know, I’ve really missed you,” TK says casually, feeling comfortable and _right_ under the weight of Carlos’ arm slung over his shoulders. 

“Did you now?” Carlos’ voice takes on that typical teasing lilt of his when they talk to each other, and TK elbows him in the side but uses it as an excuse to move even closer. Carlos glances at him and smiles. “I missed you too. Are you staying at my place tonight?” 

The corner of TK’s mouth quirks up. “Is that even a question?” 

It’s becoming more of a thing, for TK to stay with Carlos when their shifts actually manage to sync up. Owen doesn’t say anything about it, really — he knows his son isn’t a kid anymore, and that their relationship is good and solid. It’s been almost six months of them officially being boyfriends, and it couldn’t be going smoother. 

TK smiles at the thought of getting more time with Carlos, even after their outing tonight is done. Carlos curls his arm tighter around TK, and gently kisses his temple. 

“There _are_ single people in your presence guys,” Paul says, breaking them out of their little world that consists of only the two of them. They’ve stopped at a crosswalk, and the three of them are looking back at TK and Carlos with small smiles. Lovingly, TK flips his friend off, and Paul laughs as they wait for the light to change. They’ve all kind of fallen into one cluster, now, no distance between them as TK and Carlos are brought into the conversation. 

Which is immediately disrupted by the unmistakable sound of tires screeching, followed by an impossibly loud crash. All of their heads turn in the direction of the noise, and it takes only a few seconds for them to lock eyes and jump into action. They watch as the pickup truck that was swerving and ended up hitting the now-totalled car pumps the gas and immediately drives off, despite their attempt to flag it down. 

“I got a partial plate,” Carlos says, who was thinking ahead and broke off from the group momentarily, pulling out his phone in time to snap a photo of the retreating vehicle. 

TK hears him in the distance, but he's too focused on trying to get to whoever's stuck inside the car, not even considering it a possibility to just stay put and wait for help to come. The others are on the same page as him, at least, though they kind of splinter off due to the large groups of people now lingering around and staring at the scene. 

“Hey, are you okay?” TK yells, the first to make it close to the crashed car, through the growing crowds of people watching in shock. There’s smoke billowing out from under the hood, and he can faintly hear Mateo yelling to bystanders that they’re firefighters, that they need to step back so they can work. Marjan’s quickly come up to flank TK, both of them a few steps away from the vehicle, when the driver’s door budges open and a woman falls out onto the road. _Well_ , TK thinks, _at least we don’t have to figure out how to get her out._ They still don’t have gear, though, and he tries to push that to the back of his mind as his medic training takes over. They drop down to their knees on either side of the woman.

“Can you hear us, ma’am?” Marjan asks, and when she gets a grunt in response, Marjan meets TK’s eyes and he nods at her. The woman’s still laying on her stomach and after gently prodding around her neck and ensuring there’s no visible injuries, Marjan says, “Okay, we’re going to have to turn her over.” 

They count down from three, and they roll her over onto her back. The woman lets out a wail, and Paul comes down next to them, gently putting pressure on her shoulders to keep her down while they examine her. 

TK presses his fingers to her pulse-point, as Marjan starts talking to the woman. 

“I’m Marjan, this is TK and Paul,” she says, glancing at each of them as she says their respective names. “We’re going to help you out, okay? Can you tell me your name?”

The woman somehow chokes out, “Susan,” before her eyes dart frantically around. “Am I going to die?” 

“No, we won’t let that happen,” Paul says, as he tries to hold her head in place. “You’re going to be just fine.” 

“Her heart-rate’s a little high, and has a dropping BP,” TK says, after glancing down at his watch. He moves his eyes downward and takes in the blood smeared across the woman’s arm, before he tries to come into her view. “Susan, does anything hurt really bad?” 

“My-my side,” she cries, and it takes no time for Marjan and TK to lift up her shirt and notice the purple bruising that’s already covering most of her right side, over her ribs. TK’s knee bumps against her leg as he shuffles over to get a closer look, only for her to shout in pain. “I think my leg—”

“There’s a lot of blood,” TK says, glancing around and locking eyes with his boyfriend, beckoning him forward with a wave. “I need your belt.” 

Carlos complies without question, passing it over and dropping down next to the woman to join Paul in trying to comfort her while TK tries to stop the blood flow by tying the belt around her thigh. 

Marjan’s talking Susan through what’s going on; that help is coming, and TK really hopes that’s true. He winces as she cries out when he tightens the makeshift tourniquet, but blood stops flowing out of her wound, and he sighs in relief. They manage to move her a little further from the car, but they don’t want to risk further injury so they settle on just getting her to the sidewalk. Carlos is still talking with her, as is Paul, and TK kind of stumbles as he sits on the curb with shaky, bloodied hands, pulling out his phone. 

He calls dispatch, and is relieved when he gets through to Grace. She's their hero, keeping calm and reassuring that help is on the way, help is _coming_ — 

And they’re stuck watching and waiting when the car bursts into flames. 

* * *

Eventually the 115, who are stationed only ten minutes away, makes it to the scene. Their EMS captain immediately thanks them all for the work they did as his team secures a cervical collar around Susan’s neck and checks her vitals again. The firefighters tame the flames quickly, and they’re all sitting together on the curb, sort of unable to move. 

“Well, fuck,” Paul says, after a few moments of silence, and they all begin to murmur their agreement with his statement. 

TK’s still got a slight tremor to his hands, the fear of what could have gone wrong — of what could have happened to his family if things had gone just a little differently — all running through his mind. They hate feeling helpless because they know that they can help, but he knows they did what they could. Susan's leg will probably be saved because of them, and some of the tension alleviates from where it's sitting heavy in his chest. Marjan hasn’t let go of him, her arm looped through his, and Carlos has his hand gently placed over TK's knee. And it's in that moment he knows that being surrounded by his family, short a few people but still just as strong, is the only place he wants to be. They're a dream-team, and nothing's going to change that. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments/kudos are greatly appreciated!


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